One of the few remaining NES all-stars - Bill “Mad Dog” Rizer for Smash (and maybe Lance Bean as an echo/alt).

[Mr. Stevenson]

I don’t think they were ever going to be duo characters. You only ever controlled one character at a time in their games so an Ice Climber style doesn’t really make much sense. I think they would almost definitely be palate swaps since Bill and Lance play exactly the same.

You do realize that everything you just said about Bill and Lance also applies to the Ice Climbers on their original game, right? In both Ice Climber and Contra you have the 1 player and 2 player options which work the exact same way.

 

[Gengar84]

You do realize that everything you just said about Bill and Lance also applies to the Ice Climbers on their original game, right? In both Ice Climber and Contra you have the 1 player and 2 player options which work the exact same way.

That’s true but it also applies to Mario and Luigi who are two separate characters. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong actually tagged in and out in their games but are still two different characters in Smash. Just because they did it once with Ice Climbers doesn’t mean that’s how they will handle it for others. I think Ice Climbers were a unique case and the exception to the rule.

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

That’s true but it also applies to Mario and Luigi who are two separate characters. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong actually tagged in and out in their games but are still two different characters in Smash. Just because they did it once with Ice Climbers doesn’t mean that’s how they will handle it for others. I think Ice Climbers were a unique case and the exception to the rule.

You implied that they shouldn’t be a two in one fighter cuz they don’t work like the Ice Climbers in their games, which is false. I agree that there’s no reason to have them like that but if it weren’t for Sakurai’s recent take on how a duo Fighter should look like then I wouldn’t see any reason why this wouldn’t be a possibility, tbh.

 

[Gengar84]

You implied that they shouldn’t be a two in one fighter cuz they don’t work like the Ice Climbers in their games, which is false. I agree that there’s no reason to have them like that but if it weren’t for Sakurai’s recent take on how a duo Fighter should look like then I wouldn’t see any reason why this wouldn’t be a possibility, tbh.

I’ve never played Ice Climber so I had no idea they played separately in their game. I guess it could be technically possible in that case to have Bill and Lance work as a duo but I never once considered it. I still think they would work fine separately and there is no need to pair them up but I apologize if I came off as dismissive or condescending. That wasn’t my intention.

 

[shinhed-echi]

TBF Ice Climbers only work the way they do, because back then, the way of representing series accuracy was a lot more vague.

Accuracy then:
"Oh! Let's have them demonstrate how their game had 2-player mode"
- Duo character
"Perfect!

Accuracy now:
"Let's have the character portray arcade fighting game experience"

• Character turns around automatically
• Has input commands
• Has charge commands.
• Has a comeback super move gimmick.
• Has 2 Super moves to use with it.
• Even has an additional special move to not miss a single one.

"Perfect!"

 

[Wonder Smash]

I made a few slight changes for my idea of a Classic Mode for them.

Bill Rizer/Lance Bean - Smash War



Fights against soldier characters. Mostly gun items appear.

Round 1: on the Amazon Jungle [Jungle & Hangar]

Round 2: x8 on Shadow Moses Island [Base]

Round 3: on Castle Siege [Thunder Landing]

Round 4: x8 on the Summit [Waterfall]

Round 5: on Midgar [Stage 01 (Hard Corps)] (with Lance/Bill as a partner)

Round 6: Galleom [Stage 01 Remix (Contra III)] References the armored bosses in the Contra series.

Bonus Stage
Final Round: x2(regular and giant) on Frigate Orpheon [Alien's Lair] (with Lance/Bill as a partner) References the alien final boss fights in the Contra series.


(Congratulations!)

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

Fights against soldier characters. Mostly gun items appear.

Round 1: on the Amazon Jungle [Jungle & Hangar]

Round 2: x8 on Shadow Moses Island [Base]

Round 3: on Castle Siege [Thunder Landing]

Round 4: x8 on the Summit [Waterfall]

Round 5: on Midgar [Stage 01 (Hard Corps)] (with Lance/Bill as a partner)

Round 6: Giant on Brinstar Depths [Stage 01 Remix (Contra III)] References the alien enemies in the series.

Bonus Stage

Find Round: Master Hand and Crazy Hand [Alien's Lair] (with Lance/Bill as a partner) References how Master Hand and Crazy Hand use gun and explosive type attacks similar to the enemies in the Contra series.

Where’s Mario?

 

[Wonder Smash]

View attachment 309343

Where’s Mario?

Hmm...that definitely needs to be referenced in Smash somehow. lol

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

Hmm...that definitely needs to be referenced in Smash somehow. lol

I could be wrong but I think Mr. Game & Watch’s f-air is a nod to the game.

Although a stage based on it would be the real deal, and Bill and Lance would fit perfectly into it.
Always lowkey wished Nintendo brought back those quirky Mario soldiers in some form too.

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

I do wonder if the recent deconfirmation of Ryu Hayabusa and Sir Arthur makes Bill a more likely candidate. That is of course, while assuming that we are to get an NES icon this pass...

I’d say that right now, of all the NES stars that are either not in nor deconfirmed, he’s the best and most logical choice.

 

[kaithehedgefox]

I do wonder if the recent deconfirmation of Ryu Hayabusa and Sir Arthur makes Bill a more likely candidate. That is of course, while assuming that we are to get an NES icon this pass...
View attachment 309544

I’d say that right now, of all the NES stars that are either not in nor deconfirmed, he’s the best choice.

Don't want to rude nor am I upset nor complaining, but when the heck was Ryu (Ninja Gaiden) deconfirmed?

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

Don't want to rude nor am I upset nor complaining, but when the heck was Ryu (Ninja Gaiden) deconfirmed?

Go to the Ryu Hayabusa thread and find out for yourself.

 

[kaithehedgefox]

Go to the Ryu Hayabusa thread and find out for yourself.

Could you please show me where Ryu's (Ninja Gaiden) deconfirmation was addressed in his thread?

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

Could you please show me where Ryu's (Ninja Gaiden) deconfirmation was addressed in his thread?

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Reply nº 2715

 

[MarioRaccoon]

C’om Nintendo give us our 80’s action hero parody.

 

[DanganZilla5]

Yeah let's go! I want to see what the Jungle remix would sound like!

 

[Wonder Smash]

There's now a more recent interview about Hayabusa where Team Ninja is once again saying he's waiting for an invitation. Since they don't actually own the series, I don't take what they say as a deconfirmation.

But anyway, I've been wondering, does anybody else think the Ralf & Clark spirit battle could possibly be like a low-key reference to Contra? I know out of all the characters in the roster, Snake makes the most sense for obvious reasons but I do think about how Snake is from the same company that just happens to have their own run-and-gun series just like Ikari Warriors. It just makes the spirit battle all the more fitting.

 

[Wonder Smash]

I made one more change in my idea for a Classic Mode. I decided to put Galleom as the final boss as a way to reference the armored boss fights in the Contra series.

 

[DarthEnderX]

You know, looking at the game list for the Super Famicom Mini, Contra is just as conspicuous by its absence there as it is from the SNES Classic Edition.

Nintendo knows dammit. Those games were chosen for a reason! Contra is coming! Somehow, someway!

 

[kaithehedgefox]

You know, looking at the game list for the Super Famicom Mini, Contra is just as conspicuous by its absence there as it is from the SNES Classic Edition.

Nintendo knows dammit. Those games were chosen for a reason! Contra is coming! Somehow, someway!

Aside from Contra, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Silent Hill are two other Konami franchises that aren't represented in Smash yet.

 

[DanganZilla5]

Aside from Contra, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Silent Hill are two other Konami franchises that aren't represented in Smash yet.

Is Yu-Gi-Oh in contention? I don't know anything about it but I figured it was 4th party material.

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

Nintendo knows dammit. Those games were chosen for a reason! Contra is coming! Somehow, someway!

Hopefully the right way this time cuz I’m sick of Nintendo wasting excellent potential.

 

[DarthEnderX]

Is Yu-Gi-Oh in contention? I don't know anything about it but I figured it was 4th party material.

Far as I know it is. It's a manga first and foremost.

 

[Wonder Smash]

Aside from Contra, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Silent Hill are two other Konami franchises that aren't represented in Smash yet.

Yu-GI-Oh! came from a manga first and I think there could also be some kind of representation of Gradius in Smash. I'd rather see that than Silent Hill.

Also, I made one last change. I decided to switch the order of the Ridley and Galleom boss fights. Now it feels like a complete tribute to the Contra series.

 

[Arcadenik]

Well it seems Sakurai revealed that duo characters must have a simplistic cartoony design in order to work properly in Smash, which is why he didn’t do that with Pyra/Mythra, so now we know that if Bill and Lance ever come to the roster, they’ll either be pallet swaps or in-game swaps and definitely not a duo fighter (which I’m personally very ok with) given their realistic/detailed appearances.



Added. Haven’t been here recently so apologies for the delay.

Where did Sakurai say that duo characters must have a simplistic cartoony design in order to work properly in Smash?

I ask because my Team Rocket idea is a duo character with Meowth and Ekans team and Meowth and Koffing team (Down B to switch Ekans and Koffing).

On topic, Lance Bean would work best as alternate character to Bill Rizer.

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

Where did Sakurai say that duo characters must have a simplistic cartoony design in order to work properly in Smash?

I ask because my Team Rocket idea is a duo character with Meowth and Ekans team and Meowth and Koffing team (Down B to switch Ekans and Koffing).

On topic, Lance Bean would work best as alternate character to Bill Rizer.

Here you go:

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Battling with Pyra/Mythra (Nintendo Switch)

Behold the power of the Aegis! Xenoblade Chronicles 2's Pyra/Mythra come to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a DLC fighter on March 5th!Watch this presentation ...

m.youtube.com

Also I agree that he should be an alt, but I definitely wouldn’t say no to Lance being an echo fighter to Bill instead, mainly cuz that would automatically grant us a Lance Bean amiibo in a not so distant future.

 

[ninjahmos]

Y'know, Bill Rizer kinda bears some resemblance to Arnold Schwarzenegger as Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer, and Lance Bean bears some resemblance to Sylvester Stallone as John J. Rambo.

 

[DanganZilla5]

Y'know, Bill Rizer kinda bears some resemblance to Arnold Schwarzenegger as Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer, and Lance Bean bears some resemblance to Sylvester Stallone as John J. Rambo.

That's because they were most likely a direct inspiration. I mean, look at this cover art.

It's not exactly subtle, especially since the game is about two muscled men shooting their way through hordes of enemies and fighting aliens at the end. It's pretty much an 80s action film in a nutshell.

 

[Oddball]

It's fairly obvious.

Of course this was the 80s when it was made. Games was packed with Arnold lookalikes back then.

 

[Pacack]

Figured y'all might appreciate this.

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

Classic Konami

Seriously tho, I hope Bill and Lance’s appearances come close to their NES cover artwork, except with the in-game NES designs, like these kickass action figures show:

Spoiler: The figures

 

[DarthEnderX]

I prefer their SNES versions with the Vegeta armor.


That said, I still think Hard Corps Uprising is the coolest Contra characters have ever looked(probably because ArcSys made it).

Sadly, Bill and Lance aren't in that one.

 

[Oddball]

That said, I still think Hard Corps Uprising is the coolest Contra characters have ever looked(probably because ArcSys made it).
View attachment 313856
Sadly, Bill and Lance aren't in that one.

It's nice, but it's anime design cool. I much prefer the Contra boys to have more of an 80s action movie cool.

To each his own though.

 

[Wonder Smash]

I prefer their designs from Contra Return, which is more closer to their original 80s designs.

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

I hate it when they weeb up franchises that were never even intended to look like anime in the first place. But I definitely wouldn’t mind the Alien Wars designs since they’re fairly close to the NES ones. Although I hope their NES versions would at least be alts.

Also I just remembered that Sakurai mentioned he keeps figures of upcoming fighters on his sacred drawer not too long ago, and now I’m wondering if those figures I showed are some of them, given the possibility that Bill and Lance might be upcoming DLC newcomers.

 

[DarthEnderX]

I think my favorite part of the ArcSys design is the huge crazy future gun. Which is a lot better than a boring ol' assault rifle.

Like, Bill has an 80s action movie design, but Contra isn't an 80's action movie GAME. It's sci-fi as hell, with tons of future weapons, vehicals, robots, aliens, etc.

It's nice, but it's anime design cool.

I think if you put Bill in it, with Bill's color scheme(blue armor with blue camo pants) it would look a lot better.

 

[ninjahmos]

Fun Fact: Akira Yamaoka, the composer best known for the Silent Hill series, was one of the two composers, the other being Sota Fujimori, of Contra: Shattered Soldier.

 

[DanganZilla5]

We are rating Bill Rizer in Rate Their Chances. Come and vouch for the mad dog!

 

[Oddball]

Like, Bill has an 80s action movie design, but Contra isn't an 80's action movie GAME. It's sci-fi as hell, with tons of future weapons, vehicals, robots, aliens, etc.

I think it fits well alongside such 80s classics like Terminator, Robocop, Predator, and Aliens 2.

 

[DarthEnderX]

I think it fits well alongside such 80s classics like Terminator, Robocop, Predator, and Aliens 2.

That's a good point, even though the inspirations for those two characters is clearly Rambo and Predator.

I'd still rather they have sci-fi guns than generic AKs.